Niveen Salem – Elite Marketing Secrets
A Content Marketing Hub Every Marketer Must Have
What is a content marketing hub every marketer must have?
Sonia Simone, an author and one of Copyblogger’s co-founders calls it a “content hub – a centerpiece for your content marketing”. You probably figured it out. Yes, it’s a blog!
What is a Blog?
A blog is a online educational center about your business based on value offered. In marketing terms, it’s called attraction marketing. It’s simply your real estate piece of land on the internet. It’s a place to interact with your potential customers. But before you start a blog you need to understand your audience. This will stem from having a strong niche. Only then you’ll be able to research their problems, issues and concerns and help them find the solutions through writing a content marketing strategy about the problems. It’s the foundation of all social media tools.
But, wait a second: I thought social media is Twitter and Facebook?
Social media outlets are great to start a conversation but ultimately you want to bring your visitors back to your home base – your blog. Creating a social media marketing plan for your blog is essential in promoting your content. Here comes the importance of all social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube and Pinterest.
Why Blogging – 10 Benefits to Start your Own Blog?
- Thought Leader: When you blog you’re perceived as a thought leader and an expert in your industry or niche. People will start coming to you for questions, concerns and problems that they need answers for. It creates a conversation rather than a one way monologue.
- Trusted Source: When providing valuable content in your blog, your readers will build a trust relationship with you which turns into a lead and a lead turns into a sale.
- Blogging Sharpens Your Saw: When you’re blogging regularly, you’re forced to read and educate yourself about your industry. Eventually you’ll become more informed and educated than your competitors. Your presentations will become better, your problem solving abilities and skills will enhance and your tool and resource systems will grow. You’ll simply become a better teacher who have an answer to every question. All this from blogging!
- Freedom: A blog gives you an incredible amount of freedom where no one can tell you what to promote or not. You have total control over your content and your audience. No one has the right to flag your content as inappropriate or decide suddenly to cancel your Facebook Fan Page or delete your LinkedIn group discussions. One of my LinkedIn group discussions was suddenly deleted after reaching 42 comments in a few days!
- You have 100% control over the look, design and functionality of your site
- Blogging Traffic: Statistics show that blogging creates 55% more traffic and visitors to companies. Source: Hubspot.
- Build a Tribe: Blogging creates a tribe of followers, fans, readers and build relations with potential customers
- Your blog is a great way to generate leads. You can always make money blogging by monetizing your blog if you’re in the affiliate marketing industry
- You can include many sources of content marketing in your blog (not only writing) – such as a video or a podcast.
- By 2013, it is projected that 128 million people in the US will be blog readers. Source: MyMarketingDept.
There are 100’s of other statistics that you can search online to find out more benefits of blogging.
How to Create a Blog?
Nowadays creating a blog became a very simple process as 1, 2, 3:
- You need to choose and create a domain name
- Then create a web hosting account
- Then use a simple WordPress blog theme
How to Blog?
I know the objection as I was there before you: ” But I’m not a writer! What am I going to write about?” There are 5 reasons why you can become a killer blogger. How to blog is very simple once you follow these steps:
1. Write about your passion
2. Offer valuable dynamic content and avoid putting your readers to sleep with these 6 ways.
3. Use marketing tactics and strategies when writing a blog post. Here are 3 valuable tactics:
- Be the Resource Your Customers Really Need
- Answer the Unanswered Questions
- Find the Questions Your Customers are Asking
4. You’ll always need to improve your blog post using these 5 tips
- Plan your blog post before you start writing
- Give examples of how and what to do, not only why
- Always end your post with a call to action
- Edit your title, introduction and conclusion
- Use easy formatting
5. Content curation is a well known concept in blogging which allows you to write a blog post about something you’ve read online. THE RULE is to refer to the author’s name and article link in your post. When I first started blogging on my blog – Elite Marketing Secrets – I used this method a lot until I was able to create my own content.
6. You can find blogging ideas to create your own content using these sources:
- Other blogs (curating content)
- Books
- Magazines
- Movies
- TV
- Forums
- Friends
- Real life story
- Success / failure stories
- Social media
- Reviews
- Interviews
- Best of…..
- How to…..
- Case studies
- Solve a problem
- Your blog comments
7. Humanize or personalize your blog posts with your personality. Nothing is more boring than reading a blog post on a certain subject without feeling the author’s personality involved in the post. Mention your experiences, likes, dislikes, others experiences or stories. Storytelling is the #1 reason for grabbing your audience attention. It’s key in content marketing. If you master storytelling, then you mastered marketing and that is what 99.99% of marketers lack.
8. Here are a few more good blogging practices and tips:
- Be consistent
- Be organized
- Be specific
- Make it about your audience not about you (be interested not interesting)
- Write a compelling headline
- Engage your readers
- Respond to your comments
- Promote your content
- Optimize your post
- Join a blogging community
- Share your expertise and others
I’d like to offer a free blogging book here as an added value. Inside the book, you’ll discover how to blog your way to the top of your home business organization. The concepts in this book can be applied on any business.
Click here to get your free blogging book from Elite Marketing Secrets
To Your Success,
Niveen Salem
Thank you Niveen for contributing to our blog. At the end of every school year I give a presentation to elementary school students at a workshop type seminar called GATE Together. I teach elementary school students how to blog . . . this year I’m thinking of offering my services to help students start a blog on their own with the intention of having them create their own blog and utilizing it to achieve academic success while pursuing their passions. Through The Tutoring Solution I also created a Blog Based Learning Program . . . check it out if you’re interested – http://thecatutoringsolution.com/2425/blog-based-learning-as-implemented-by-the-tutoring-solution/
Thank you for having me on your blog Zeb. This is a brilliant idea! If students would to learn blogging, this will dramatically improve their writing skills as well as the thought process….needless to mention their researching skills. Thanks again ~ Niveen
And a variety of other ways too . . . Yeats once wrote, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” For some, a blog can be the ignition of that fire.
This is a Brilliant and well thought out Blog, It really shows the layout of a blog really well and I love how you have broken it down to teach over people how to create a blog well done
Well done Niveen.
Niveen – what a fantastic resource for all things blogging. I’ve been blogging for years and I’ve picked up several tips. I’ve bookedmarked this page so I can come back and review and keep stepping up the quality of my blogging!
Michael
Bookmarked = Awesome post.
Wonderful reading Niveen! Thank you Zeb for hosting Niveen! I gathered some ideas for my blog. Thank you for sharing this information.
Jeanne,
Thank you . . . I’m happy to promote the work of others on my blog . . . as long as they’re promoting the greater good.
Zeb
What an incredible blog about blogging. This can be used as a blueprint to blogging. Extremely well written full of great content.